Maynard and Iris

To address the deep contradictions in social and economic life that motivated Keynes, I propose a combination of “environmental Keynesianism” and “deep democracy.” Massive state investment in infrastructure and environmental remediation would be an excellent way of soaking up capital in the ground, thus responding to the overaccumulation crisis feared by Keynes. Deep democracy, proposed by Iris Marion Young, proposes a sustained political engagement at different scales with different interlocutors on different issues. This is a kind of politics that, she suggests, requires people to pay attention to each other’s circumstances, needs and beliefs and thereby arrive at outcomes perceived as fair and fairly arrived at.